


The Nerve of Him!

by gatcombepark



Category: British Royal Family
Genre: F/M, although said relationship won't be such for much longer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-03
Updated: 2014-08-03
Packaged: 2018-02-11 13:47:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2070534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatcombepark/pseuds/gatcombepark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mark has just told Anne about his affairs. Ficlet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Nerve of Him!

Anne burst out the door of the house screaming a string of obscenities that would make a sailor blush. Damn him to hell and back again! Twice! He was calling her name, begging her to come back and listen to him, but no, she just couldn’t, not yet.

What had started out as a brisk walk turned into a jog, and then a flat-out run. She finally reached the stables and threw the door open. The stable boys shrank back as she strode down the aisle, her stormy expression telling them it was better not to ask.

She quickly groomed and saddled the fastest horse in the barn. As soon as she settled in the saddle, they were off at a gallop towards the woods.

Standing in the stirrups, Anne urged the horse on faster. The nerve of him! How could he just sit there and tell her that without a hint of remorse on his face, almost as if he were boasting about it! As if he were expecting her to congratulate him! Well, she wasn’t congratulating him, and she sure as hell wasn’t about to start.

As they neared the forest, she steered her mount onto a well-worn deer path. Anne had discovered this little trail not long after moving to Gatcombe, and she was fairly sure no one else knew about it. It was where she would go for a hack whenever she needed some time to herself, to really be alone and think.

They thundered on, jumping the occasional log or narrow brook, Anne’s thoughts almost entirely on the scene back at the house. Was it something she had done? Something she _hadn’t_ done? Oh, but what wouldn’t she have done if she had only known! Come to think of it, though, it explained why things had been so tense lately. Why she felt she’d been walking on pins and needles around him. Oh God. She’d practically been avoiding him. Maybe it _was_ her fault.

No, nonsense. He’s a grown man and this was a decision he had made on his own. Not her fault he couldn’t recognize a good thing when he saw it. When he was married to it. She almost smiled to herself, but then it all came rushing back to her.

Suddenly, the trees and bushes gave way to a clearing. Anne slowed the horse to a halt beside a small stream and let the reins slip through her fingers as the horse lowered its head to drink. Where had things all gone wrong? They had been so happy together and so sure of themselves… She sank forward onto the horse’s neck and began to cry. The tears flowed more and more quickly and before she knew what was happening, she was sobbing her eyes out. How had this turned so sour, so quickly? Or had it been sour all along and she just wasn’t aware? And where would she go from here?


End file.
